"...the hills of western Maine,.....where the subtle matters and the spectacular distracts."Bernd Heinrich in A Year in the Maine Woods

Friday, April 25, 2008

Food

I could live forever on fruit, vegetables and bread and Chile is the right place for all of the above! We have passed acres and acres of plums, avacodos, corn, kiwis, strawberries, wine grapes, table grapes, pomegranate, citrus, tomatoes, olives and probably other things that I didn't even notice.

One delicious dish is creamed corn cooked inside of the corn husk--it is so yummy. Unfortunately, Brother's patience for translation does not seem to extend to recipes so I am not sure what was in it other than corn.

Another dish that I am enjoying is called Chilean Salad and is made of tomatoes and onion--you can't go wrong with that--I imagine that there is more to it than just the tomatoes and onion, but until I find a Chilean cookbook in English I am out of luck.

The bread is baked daily in outdoor adobe ovens. Today while walking around town with my dad we came across a lady making empanadas and she was kind enough to let us watch and take pictures--or at least we think she said we could. We theorized that she made a fire in the oven early in the day and let the adobe get very hot then when the fire was just down to coals she banked the coals around the edges of the oven and put the empanadas in. But Brother wasn't with us and so I'm not real sure about the method--in other words don't try it at home and say "Beth said this would work"

The wedding starts tonight at 8:30 p.m.--the wedding fiesta is afterward and the orchestra is booked until 5 a.m. We're a long way from Dixfield where it's lights out at 9 p.m.

6 comments:

Beth, I'm so happy for you. Seeing the Andes must have been exhilarting! The food looks wonderful-so fresh. I could become a vegetarian with fresh from the garden foods. The outdoor oven leaves a little to be desired though. Enjoy the wedding and give the happy couple our best!

Yummy!! I love love love tamales. (Masa corn steamed in dried corn husks with or without fillings). They are labour intensive, but my sister- in-law makes delicious ones. She fills her with meat or chillies. I have even had dessert ones in Mexico. The bread from the outdoor oven sounds good. I believe they have baked bread more than the tortillas of Mexico and Central America.

Looks yummy. I am an addict for good food. You and C. are getting some good training in while you are away. Glad you found the easier ascent. Got you comments on my post. Always glad to know you are dropping by. Tell everyone hello and congratulations to the bride and groom.

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